I went in not expecting too much after the trailers. There were bits that didn't work for me (the music in places was too much The Next Generation and not enough John Williams for me). But overall I felt it was solid and the ending was very powerful.

Very good movie - much better then Force Awakens. The characters in particular seemed much more relatable. No light sabre duels was also refreshing, the light side of the force making a much more subtle appearance.

_________________cheers, Lee

Elven Field Surgeon, Department of Intensive Care, Resuscitation and Necromancy

I liked it, the sarcastic imperial droid was a nice touch. Obviously we know how it ends, but it was nice to see Vader slicing his way through all those rebels in the last few minutes, reminding us just what a badass he is.

I also liked the death star commander originally played by Peter Cushing - a good use of CGI and real actors (apparently the chap from holby city, if you're in the UK) to bring the character to life ( no pun intended).

A nice standalone story without being attached to any of the main characters, unless you're a secret imperial agent. Mind you, I almost burst into tears when I saw princess Leia, maybe real life intruding.

A final thing, the scene with the criminal wanted on 12 systems was a nice nod back.

_________________"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." — Terry Pratchett

Overall, I loved it. I felt it was well paced (maybe rushed a touch in some scenes?) and had a good "fun adventure" feel to it. I ranked it behind Empire (my favorite) and alongside A New Hope, ahead of Force Awakens. Best part? OMG STORMTROOPERS CAN HIT STUFF!

I can't wait for an extended cut Blu-Ray. Apparently, there were a lot of scenes that were cut or re-shot and I'm looking forward to an extensive bonus features disc!

There were a few minor things that I disliked, but they're just that ... minor things:

Vader. I distinctly heard them say "Send a boarding party of stormtroopers and Vader." No stormtroopers. Which leads me to the next thing...

Vader is too BA for the scene. Did we seriously watch him use the force to toss people into the walls and ceiling but can't grab the data file that's being passed like a relay baton?

It was really hard to make out some of the character names (due to accents/sound mixing/too much going on at the time/whatever). Thankfully, IMDB exists.

I also liked the death star commander originally played by Peter Cushing - a good use of CGI and real actors (apparently the chap from holby city, if you're in the UK) to bring the character to life ( no pun intended).

Yeah, this didn't look that weird to me either, as it did to some folks. I struggled a bit more with Leia but that was very quick.

Chracian wrote:

Mind you, I almost burst into tears when I saw princess Leia, maybe real life intruding.

Don't think I've ever been so upset by the death of someone I never knew.

Chracian wrote:

A final thing, the scene with the criminal wanted on 12 systems was a nice nod back.

I missed this at the time, clever touch!

Duranthalis wrote:

Apparently, there were a lot of scenes that were cut

The "I rebel" scene from the trailer for one.

Duranthalis wrote:

Vader is too BA for the scene. Did we seriously watch him use the force to toss people into the walls and ceiling but can't grab the data file that's being passed like a relay baton?

Fair point but the scene certainly had an impact. Just instantly recognising the white corridors from all those years ago was spooky.